The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-06-04
Virginia City Letter.

in Virginia City . few weeks az
set the tongues Of the gossip goin
and they are not ceased wagginI
yet. "There's . deal in sight,
"they've got $500 ore on the $500
foot level" they've struck it ricl
in Best 4 Belcher." These ar
some Of the rumors flying around
Of course, they are for the mos
part baseless, but there's . fatality
about = hanger-on in . mininl
camp. He never. learns anything
after his first lesson. There is alst
. sort of superstition about thes.
people that you will find nowher,
else. They are the Micawbers o
this epoch. Their lives are devoted
to waiting for that ghostly some
thing to turn up. Pending thu
seldom recurring visits of Mackay
or some other magnate, these
worthless endeavor to turn up some
thing on their own account
jack, an ace, . king-whatever il
needed to fill . hand. Sometimes
they get caught fooling with fate
and then get turned up. The cor
oner attends to the remaining cere'
monies.
THE WONDERFUL CoNsTOCK.
What q career this wonderful
Comstock lode has had! And
what men it has brought to the
surface! In the bar-room of the
Baldwin hotel, San Francisco, is a
large oil painting depicting the Ar
rival of Comstock and his associate
prospectors to this place in 1859.
They had come through the Carson
valley and up to the head of Six
Mile canyon, where the Ophir
hoisting works are now standing,
and were about to camp for the
night. The next morning Comstock
discovered some float" in this
stream. The party remained here
and located some mines far up the
side on what is now
known az Cedar Hill, being the
spur of Mount Davidson. They
found it a paying ledge, and their
discoveries having become known
down at "The Bay" which is min
ing lingo for San Francisco, there
was . rush in the spring Of go.
Since then tho history of Virginia
City has been given to the world
piecemeal. Stupendous fortunes
have been made here by men whose
highest ambition had never scared
beyond the possession of $780, 600
until they began making big money.
Then the wolf in human nature as
serted itself. "Give Give +! Give 7"
they cried to mother earth and to
their credulous fellow-mortals with
. weakness for buying mining
stocks. %.
Out of the debris Of the past
twenty years a few names will ever
be prominent in the annals Of this
ragged mining camp-John Mac
kay, VIM. Sharon, John P. Jones.
There are others who have enjoyed
q brief prominence. Some of them
are still living and very wealthy, but
they have no salient points Of char
acter on which ono may dwell with
even momentary interest. They
are simply rich hogs, living in lit
tie better stys than some other
hoge, swilling, groveling in their
purely animal pleasures, living
out thier little days and finally
passing into their original nothing
ness with a grunt.
Comstock, the discover of this
great lode, has passed into obscur-
ity. Some say he 10 dead, others
that he is prospecting in Arizona:
Whether dead or alive he has passed
from the contemplation of the peo-
pie of this town.
AHARD TOWN.
Virginia City was . hard town
in early days. A IMAM for break
fast +" was . part of nearly every
days bill of fare. Shootings, stab
bings, 6ghts-these were always
=" on tap" Finally. as the town
grew in importance as the result
of tho constant discoveries, an
effort was made to hold down the
{" rustlers." A vigilance COMMITTEES
-"6O1 was organized and
nearly all respectable citizens were
members of the organization. The
touehs were notified to "quit OF
get" There were no second noti-
fcations. Failure to observe the
iniunctions of" col was avariably
awarded with . hanging, conducted
with neatness and dispatch. and in
1873 the town had Quoted down 50
it wae possible for . respectable citi'
zen to live. But there Was never 9
time when hard cases were not plen'
tiful. Of late years, however, they
have been obliged 70 behave them,
selves. Many Of them have scattered
to .Dsadwood, Bodis, Lsadville and
Arisona. Dozens Of the rustlers
of the early days oq the ComstocA
have danced on air in Montana
vvr>~-;r~ noknfa Cnl0radO Ol